Alaska NCL JEWEL

[victoriamaz]

Anyone who has sailed to Alaska before please let me know if it is better to book with the cruise or outside in port for excursions?

[TonyB17]

"Better" is debatable, but booking excursions with the cruise line will be more expensive. 

[RaiderDuck]

We're cruising Alaska for the first time next week, and this is the first cruise where the majority of our shore excursions will be non-NCL. The NCL ones are WAY too expensive and since Alaska is in the US, you have American protections against fraud, etc. We used Viator or Shore Excursions Group for ours.

[sfaaa]

If you are thinking of taking White Pass Train in Skagway, buy ticket directly from railway website and you save $20.

[mapleleaves]

Most people prefer to book independently so they have smaller groups and a more personal experience.  ie 10 people on a whale watching boat instead of 200 fighting for space at the railing.  There are many reputable vendors that people have been using for yrs ...... if they weren't reliable and on-time, they wouldnt be in business. 

 

Go the Alaska forum and you'll find a few hundred trip reports near the top of the page, listed by yr.  Many are detailed photo journals with lots of useful info about sights, activities and vendors. There are NB, SB, RT Seattle, RT Vancouver, cruisetours, and cruise with DIY land.  Lots of great info:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

[Budget Queen]

I recently spent 5 weeks on this ship.  I always book independent.   

[victoriamaz]

1 hour ago, mapleleaves said:

Most people prefer to book independently so they have smaller groups and a more personal experience.  ie 10 people on a whale watching boat instead of 200 fighting for space at the railing.  There are many reputable vendors that people have been using for yrs ...... if they weren't reliable and on-time, they wouldnt be in business. 

 

Go the Alaska forum and you'll find a few hundred trip reports near the top of the page, listed by yr.  Many are detailed photo journals with lots of useful info about sights, activities and vendors. There are NB, SB, RT Seattle, RT Vancouver, cruisetours, and cruise with DIY land.  Lots of great info:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/33-alaska/

Do you know if they have any kayaking excursion off the boat

[mapleleaves]

if you mean independent kayak vendors, yes there are.  Ketchikan is the most popular location.

Southeast Sea Kayaks is one vendor.

 

As I said, read thru trip reports  and also do a search on the word  'kayak' in the Alaska forum to find past threads regarding kayaking. 

 

Also, each town/port has a web site to support tourism and local vendors. Most sites also include a downloadable Visitor Guide.  ie https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/   and https://www.experienceketchikan.com/

 

The Ketchikan Visitor Guide:https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/About-Ketchikan/Free-Guide

 

 

 

[victoriamaz]

7 minutes ago, mapleleaves said:

if you mean independent kayak vendors, yes there are.  Ketchikan is the most popular location.

Southeast Sea Kayaks is one vendor.

 

As I said, read thru trip reports  and also do a search on the word  'kayak' in the Alaska forum to find past threads regarding kayaking. 

 

Also, each town/port has a web site to support tourism and local vendors. Most sites also include a downloadable Visitor Guide.  ie https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/   and https://www.experienceketchikan.com/

 

The Ketchikan Visitor Guide:https://www.visit-ketchikan.com/About-Ketchikan/Free-Guide

 

 

 

Is there a place to kayak with the glaciers

[mapleleaves]

 

I have no idea where you're going in Alaska .....

 

 

[victoriamaz]

Skagwsay Juneau ketchikan

[mapleleaves]

Those locations aren't ideal for kayaking with glaciers.  (I've reserved twice in Valdez but weathered out both times)

If conditions are right, I'd say Juneau is probably the only location where it might be possible.

You'll need to do a little research on kayaking in Juneau. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by mapleleaves

[Sauer-kraut]

Booked all independent tours this June.   Hoonah was a fantastic whale watching trip, only 6 people on the boat.  In Ketchikan we just took the free bus around to the Totem Museum and walked around. 

[disneyochem]

As stated by mapleleaves, the Alaska forum is great place to research and ask these questions.  I have been to Alaska on a number of cruises (16 days on the Jewel) on a number of different cruise lines and have never booked a ship tour.  DIY excursions are straightforward to arrange but you need to do some research to see what is available and what lines up with your budget and interests.

 

Good luck and happy sailing!  I’m on the Jewel again on a northbound May 2020 cruise.

[victoriamaz]

What are some of your favorite tour companies? We definitely want to kayak, whale watch, and do the train...

[victoriamaz]

13 hours ago, Sauer-kraut said:

Booked all independent tours this June.   Hoonah was a fantastic whale watching trip, only 6 people on the boat.  In Ketchikan we just took the free bus around to the Totem Museum and walked around. 

We are going to Juneau, Ketichkan and Skagway where is Hoonah close to?

 

[mapleleaves]

 

Hoonah is the town next to the port of Icy Strait Point.   This area and Juneau are known for good whale watching.

 

As I mentioned before,  the trip reports in the Alaska forum are a great resource for activities and vendors.

 

 

 

 

[K_e_short]

I booked all my excursions independent of NCL.

 

I went on the Alaska section of this site and read EVERYTHING!

 

I also searched on Trip Advisor for each port to read up on the different options.

 

I saved A LOT of money booking myself.

 

Each company I used guaranteed I'd be back in time before the ship left AND would give me my money back if the ship did not make it into port.

 

Not sure I would feel comfortable doing it in a third world country but Alaska is in the U.S. I wasn't so worried about problems.

 

[victoriamaz]

Does anyone know anything about the whale watching and Tracy's crab shack (comes with crab legs, crab cakes and lobster bisque)